Why does vergüenza have the two dots on top of the U?

Question

I've never seen it on any other Spanish words? Is it from a different language, or is that u used in Spanish and I just don't know it?

Excellent question! Well done! - 002262dd, Dec 27, 2010

Thanks for the help everyone :) - Chavag, Dec 27, 2010

Another word en español that has a diéresis iis "bilingüe" (bilingual)--I don't know enough to know if there are more. ;-) - Luciva, May 18, 2011

And the word for the adorable pingüino (penguin) :-) - Chrissie73, Mar 20, 2016

Answer 1

In Spanish, the letter g is pronounced like the letter h (plus the guttural sound) if it is followed by either -e or -i, e.g. gemelo (twin), gira (turn), while if it is followed by -a, -o, or -u it sounds like the letter g in words like garden or get in English.

Now if the letter g is followed by the diphtongs -ue & -ui, the two dots over the u indicate that the u takes a w sound, just like vergüenza. as opposed to the ones that don't have it, like guerra (war) or guitarra (guitar).

& Yup, they are called diaeresis/diaresis, just like the the previous posters mentioned. They are called something else in German, the word for which slips my mind though.

Umlaut in German :) - Gocika, Dec 27, 2010

That's it! Thanks Gocika ;) Muy amable - Deanski, Dec 27, 2010

"dieresis" - Deanski, Dec 27, 2010

Answer 2

"vergüenza" is written with "ü", which in Spanish means that "u" must be pronounced. Those two dots above the 'u' are the accent called the "diéresis".

Answer 3

it is to show that the "u" is to be pronounced like a "w".

umlauts in German - Chrissie73, Mar 20, 2016

Answer 4

Exactly, that's why you don't have those dots in the word like for example "la guerra". It if had, it would be pronounced differenlty.